The Act of Killing (2012)
In this chilling and inventive documentary, the unrepentant former members of Indonesian death squads are challenged to re-enact some of their many murders in the style of the American movies they love. (tiff.net)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn
Written By: Joshua Oppenheimer
Starring: Safit Pardede, Haji Anif, Jusuf Kalla, Syamsul Arifin, Adi Zulkadry, Sakhyan Asmara, Soaduon Siregar, Anwar Congo, Suryono, Herman Koto, Ibrahim Sinik, Yapto Soerjosoemarno
Genre: Documentary
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The Act of Killing belongs to 51 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 236 stars)
2. Female Directors (collaborative: moderated by djross - 90 stars)
3. Uncanny, Disturbingly Weird Films (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 42 stars)
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Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 10 |  |
Barthalen | 91 98th |
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Ironically, watching this documentary made me want to kill all the main interviewees. Seeing these people be so open and proud about the atrocities they committed, joking about mass murder and discussing killing techniques as if they were dinner recipes... if I had any Gamma radiation in my system, I would've Hulked out. Instead, I just felt disgusted, disturbed, uncomfortable and finally exhausted. Required viewing if you believe humans are The Worst Species In The Universe.
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| 7 |  |
joeroxy | 82 95th |
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I've never seen a documentary that could portrait such a balance between totally absurd humor and pure horror.
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| 6 |  |
[Im]-Movies | 95 96th |
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A character arch unlike any I've seen. A documentary less about the human potential for cruelty and evil, and more about the birth of the soul. In heaves horrifying, moving, infuriating, devastating, beautiful, and all at once profound. A masterpiece of narrative documentary filmmaking. Superb.
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| 5 |  |
Anomaly | 89 93rd |
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A lurid and haunting look at the darkness within humanity, and the near-endless ability of the human mind to rationalize its actions. Near the end we begin to see cracks form in the mental defenses of one of the perpetrators, and it is gut-wrenchingly powerful. Cinema holding a mirror up to the soul.
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| 5 |  |
JakeAesthete | 93 93rd |
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Assigning this film a score seems almost irrelevant, as it's merits as a moral and humanitarian document eclipse any subjective "cinematic" achievements (which is not to say it lacks those either by any means). Which is also not to say that it's some grandstanding, self-righteously moralizing "Humanitarian" work either. Not only does it draw attention to historical atrocities, but it forces us to consider the moral responsibilities of cinematic images themselves.
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| 4 |  |
lumpnboy | 70 81st |
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Uniquely explores individual and socio-political consequences of massive 1965 Indonesian slaughters of mostly landless peasants, ethnic Chinese and Communists, with perpetrators still connected to real power, social organisation and ideology. I was in a '90s project with young Indonesians to recover this history to think their contemporary realities; may be the best broadly available portrait. But see Martha Stroud's 2015 PhD, 'Ripples, Echoes, and Reverberations: 1965 and Now in Indonesia'.
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| 4 |  |
yesistasty | 94 85th |
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At first it beggared belief that these men could be so candid about their personal corruption. But as it slowly dawned on me that this seemingly blithe openness was really a method of obfuscating the actual torment contained within, I came to see the characters as real once more.
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| 4 |  |
MArkjp | 95 97th |
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An absolute stroke of genius. Not only within it's genre but on all thinkable levels. Oppenheimer presents the atrocities in a way that transcends the documentary genre and creates some of the most interesting and uncomfortable scenes in moviemaking history. Never judging, never biased
he approaches the killers with an open mind and gains acces to their side of the story in an utterly remarkable way resulting in a film at times absurd, at times hilarious but always disturbing and horrifying.
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| 3 |  |
Actionberg | 90 92nd |
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The Act of Killing is a horrific, perception-shattering work of nonfiction that abrasively shocks its audience into contemplating the psychological context of committing grand-scale human atrocity. The irony is that it is not the grim details of genocide in Indonesia in the 1960s that disturb the viewer, but the pervasive, playful sense of complacency with these murderous acts that the same society harbors fifty years later.
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| 3 |  |
frankswild | 90 94th |
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I was expecting recent history to be revealed but it ended up being a lot more than that. The horror and indecency of the 60s pogroms and current simmering fascism seem to be as disturbing to some of the perpetrators as they are to people watching this movie but you can only see the full weight of their crimes lurking in their minds and bubbling up from time to time
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| 3 |  |
DavidBlast | 90 92nd |
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This documentary somehow manages to capture the level of absurdity that befits the travesty the perpetrators are trying to re-enact. It's funny, it's tragic, it's disgusting, it's horrible. But it's never short of essential viewing. And if we are to take anything positive from this movie, it appears to me, that even though we have the capability of killing each other, we clearly aren't meant to.
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| 3 |  |
AndreasThau | 60 42nd |
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I wasn't as overwhelmed as the reviews had prepared me to be. Clearly, the movie deals with something truly extraordinary and worthy of a film - watch it because of that. But once the premise is established, I think the movies circles too much around the same things. Until the last 15 minutes, the movie in large durations lacks storyline progress, or simply put: drive. Being as interesting as it is, it's a shame.
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| 2 |  |
Moribunny | 63 60th |
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Somewhat similar but inferior to Rithy Panh's docus about Cambodia, but doesn't feature survivors, relies much more heavily (and excessively) on reenactments, tries unsuccessfully to give more political context, and is less illuminating. The most powerful moments occur when the subjects just give raw testimonies and when they are confronted and pressed, but I would have edited out the more indulgent aesthetic exercises and the overemphasis on the "gangsters'" influence by American movies.
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| 2 |  |
djross | 65 70th |
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Hard to score. Syberberg explored the idea that Hitler saw the Third Reich as a gigantic real-life movie, of which he would be director and star. Here, Oppenheimer hands the camera over to murderous paramilitaries and gangsters and allows them free rein to play dress-ups and Cowboys-and-Indians and make a movie. Some remarkable sequences that raise some very interesting and important questions only partly assuage this viewer's doubt about the moral and political defensibility of the enterprise.
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| 2 |  |
Alex Watkins | 4 70th |
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At first, what's most horrific is the impunity with which the primaries admit to performing genocide. But Anwar Congo's gradual realization and recognition of his sins begins to weigh on him, and what started as a look into the cognitive dissonance of horrific violence slowly morphs into an act of penitence - one far too little and too late to atone for the atrocities in question, of course.
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| 2 |  |
twincinema | 85 85th |
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(Dir. Cut) In the few days since I have seen this film, I have found that it's impossible to describe what, exactly, it is that I saw. As I begin to describe it, it feels like some nightmarish waking dream that barely makes any sense. As I watched it with my GF, I kept saying out loud, "I don't understand how these people can rationalize their atrocities!" I assume this is something that everyone says while watching, but even in the end, I still had no answer. There is none.
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| 2 | theficionado | 100 97th |
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In which cinema takes a long, hard look at itself and does not like what it sees.
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| 2 |  |
Mentaculus | 100 99th |
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The most terrifying theme of the film for me is the catastrophic power it holds on our presumptions of modernity. We like to think we are an enlightened bunch, elevated by intellect and haughty through practice and restraint. Yet, the 20th century, of which this film is but a taste, is the bloodiest on (and of) human record. It's a cold reminder that Commies here may in another context be Sunni, Armenian, Ukranian, Bengali, Bosnian, women, gay, Christian, or simply poor. How fucking progressive.
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| 2 |  |
Icarus | 91 91st |
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This chilling portrait of human depravity never turns its gaze away, and allows no room to slide out from under the devastating reality of what humans can do to each other. At one point, a television technician surmises that all the killing has made Mr. Congo "crazy." But she couldn't be further from the truth. The film testifies to the hard reality that these men are completely lucid and functional in society, even as they harbor sick and twisted views of themselves and others.
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| 2 |  |
chadisdanger | 95 99th |
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I saw a review of this film that described the viewing experience as bathing in a nightmare, and that sounds perfect to me. This is a very difficult film to watch because it doesn't just depict or describe inhuman and vile acts, but rather immerses you fully into some remarkably surreal and unpleasant fantasies, a poisoned culture (the killings are proudly remembered!) and the minds and souls of the perpetrators. And it's a fucking documentary. Terrifying, unique and utterly essential.
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| 2 |  |
zspyry | 8 92nd |
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This probably would have benefited from being a bit shorter, but it's worth to watch it for a number of scenes, especially the ending.
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| 2 |  |
ahamel7896 | 9 91st |
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This is a totally unique film. Never before have I been so sickened and entertained at the same time.
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| 2 |  |
d_r_e_s_ | 4 90th |
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A slow and a bit messy start, but haunting and absolutely fantastic finish. The last 40 minutes or so was incomparable! - Very Good
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| 2 |  |
DesertPunk | 92 98th |
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Be Kind Rewind's sadder cousin.
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| 2 |  |
lex | 95 91st |
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(Dir. Cut) I've never been so gripped and shook by a documentary before. Not only a commentary on the human condition and its fascinated relationship with killing but on the world we live in which so freely throws it in our face, and the consequences of its undeniably wide appeal. My feelings when I watched this can hardly be put to words. Essential viewing (whether you like it or not is of no consequence).
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| 1 |  |
DMCrimson | 89 98th |
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I recommended this movie to Wesley Snipes on twitter and then he liked my tweet. I hope Blade enjoys one of the most horrifying and disturbing films ever.
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| 1 |  |
parcaliham | 95 95th |
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23 Subat 2013, bade ile ifistanbul & wtf?!
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| 1 |  |
Cowman | 75 75th |
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A bit long.
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| 1 |  |
AFlickering | 7 94th |
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....a hallucinatory splurge of anxious, disconcerting images bubbling from the cracks separating fiction and reality. more here: http://themissingslate.com/2013/09/06/private-theatre-the-act-of-killing/
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| 1 |  |
frederic_g54 | 9 90th |
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The kind of movie that makes me want to leave everything behind, buy a house in the countryside, live reclusively with my beloved Border Collie and become a shepherd.
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| 1 |  |
td888 | 90 95th |
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There are no words to describe this. If you want to learn about human nature, this is as close as you can get. I am still wondering if what I saw was all real or just one big elaborate joke. The hand of Herzog in this production is very obvious, I wonder what the result would have been if he would have been behind the camera himself. Don't forget to look at the end-credits, they are a revelation onto themselves.
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| 1 |  |
KasperL | 70 65th |
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Brilliant in several ways, but I much prefer 'The Look of Silence'.
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| 1 |  |
BillyShears | 95 96th |
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I almost felt bad for a monster.
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| 1 |  |
Obdurate | 85 80th |
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I loved the premise but I didn't know what to really expect. What I got was a disgusting documentary that is incredibly hard to watch, a film that makes you incredibly angry at these people and how they seemingly bath in the glory of their pasts. There are moments of enlightenment, but for them its too little too late. Maybe too powerful for its own good, as it's the type of film that will alienate people. I don't know if I enjoyed it so much as I was just impacted by it. Chilling documentary.
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| 1 |  |
Neonman | 79 60th |
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Uggh, I haven't seen such reprehensible villains in a film in quite some time, and these guys and their actions were real! Quite the stark, deep look into the abyss, Oppenheimer remains somewhat on the villain's side, letting them present the story of what happened, which makes them realise "maybe killing is ... not a nice thing to do?" An original idea for a documentary that's been executed (a-ha!) as well as it could've done, but I would've liked some more oddball surreal moments.
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| 1 |  |
CoinQuatro | 100 99th |
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They should show this in school, everywhere.
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| 1 | sellis | 93 93rd |
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Probably Michael Haneke's favorite documentary. It says everything he tried to say with Funny Games but with the grisly details of real world psychology and one nation's violent delusion. This film is about the distance used to manipulate our moral perception of reality. This relates to not only the subjects being filmed, but the filmmaker himself. He respects his subjects' perception until, finally, he is asked to share his own. The last fifteen minutes of this film are unforgettably powerful.
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| 1 |  |
FunkyAstro | 95 97th |
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This look into the fiber of human nature and morality is incomparable to any non-fiction piece I've seen before. I feel kind of shellshocked after watching this. That's the way a documentary should make you feel.
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| 1 |  |
fenixdown | 84 89th |
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About as dark as cinema verite can get. The cold-hearted bastards depicted in this film even think it goes too far.
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| 1 |  |
SirStuckey | 95 97th |
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Fascinating, disturbing, and ultimately quite powerful look at a group of "gangsters" from Indonesia that tortured, killed, and raped people due to them being considered Communists. It's hard to describe what you will watch, it won't feel like reality in a lot of ways.
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| 1 |  |
Bown | 90 92nd |
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One of the most horrifying and disturbing documentaries I’ve ever seen, and a relentless look into the human soul in a myriad of unexpected ways.
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| 1 |  |
jmarkthespot | 30 19th |
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Considering the source material, this is extremely underwhelming. The two hour and forty minute run-time overstays its welcome; after the first half hour I started to zone out. Errol Morris was a producer of this, and the whole time I could keep thinking how vastly it could have been improved had he directed. Doubt I'll watch much of Oppenheimer again.
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| 1 |  |
payens | 86 82nd |
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To kill a man is a hell of a thing...
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| 1 |  |
cclxndr | 90 88th |
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Remove the wool from over your eyes - this is a relentless scope into the psychological "nerve damage" of perpetrators behind the anti-communist Indonesian purge of the mid-60's. Oppenheimer urges the question: how deep does the process need to be for a human to recover from so much first-hand abomination? The doc explores the dark misguided side to humanity but reminds us that these heinous acts of mass murder were committed by ACTUAL people, some of who we intimately begin to know. Essential.
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| 1 |  |
AAAutin | 60 72nd |
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More like THE ACT OF RETCHING, amirite?
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| 1 |  |
closedmouth | 90 88th |
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What the fuck, Indonesia?
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| 1 |  |
Bronesby | 94 91st |
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brutally powerful. skinning alive the notion of harmless romanticizing, or that living the unexamined life is very far from getting away with murder. this film takes its toll with deafening sobriety.
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| 1 |  |
buttercup | 9 94th |
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it is striking how these fuckers are so open about their killings and unbearably disgusting how proud they are. this doc will ask for real nerves from you. i wish it was a stupid mockumentary.
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| 1 | xacviant | 83 63rd |
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Anwar Conggo, one of the perpetrators of the Indonesian anti-Communist massacres of the 60s, is given the chance to re-enact his killings in the styles of various film genres--a process with unforeseen consequences for himself. When it focuses on Conggo and his films, it's startling, colorful, and in the end, haunting. But too much of it focuses on modern Indonesia's cavalier attitude to the killings, and the hazy construction doesn't help. There are still enough privileged moments to behold.
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| 1 | WulfstanLee | 100 94th |
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Brilliantly shot (love the color and mise-en-scene) and a brilliant idea to foreground the idea of history as narrative, to put the focus on the stories that these murderers need to tell themselves to keep their minds (or not).
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| 1 |  |
koliak2991 | 92 95th |
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one of the most powerful documentaries I've seen
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| 1 |  |
thuckabe | 91 87th |
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Humans are terrifying.
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| 1 |  |
Lepra | 80 90th |
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Never knew documentaries could be so surreal.
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| 1 |  |
Chronicler | 100 95th |
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A Chilling documentary on the depths of peoples depravity and indifference towards one another in a time of crisis and turmoil. The fact that most of those who carried out the mass killings showed little or no remorse,guilt or apprehension over what they did was surreal. The film really hits at how people rationalize,compartmentalize and justify horrific deeds done in service of the nation.
The Act of Killing should be required viewing for all old enough to handle the subject matter.
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| 1 |  |
okayfrog | 75 89th |
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Is it odd that I find this to be a really great film, yet at the same time was not too disturbed or bothered by what was appearing on screen? The people we see are walking contradictions but the same can surely be said for most men. The most heinous parts of the film were the constant reminders that Indonesia is still being run by these people, and that even though one might have changed, changing a nation is much more difficult. What a well-paced film. Love the shift in the final third.
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| 1 |  |
Armilio | 88 97th |
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You can understand why is so interesting simply reading Wiki. Only the confessions of these "gangsters" - like they call theirself - are extraordinary: different people that cohabit with their common past in different ways. But is extraordinary also to what these depositions lead to: to doubt about goodness of the humanity free will; and to medidations about how powerful can be the cinema: Anwar find truth and chatarsis (only) in it; but in the dark past he found also ispiration for his crimes.
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| 1 |  |
dardan | 88 91st |
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Requires paying attention and sometimes taking a step back to realize and appreciate how non-surreal and insane the stuff on display is. Deep down they seem to doubt their own deluded justification, something that (un)fortunately leads some to double down on it and be even more open about it, as if it were a defense in-itself, at least for them. This venture to protect their ego's requires exposure of that deluded persona, even if this it grates with what they know we will see them as.
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| Average Percentile 75.23% from 1675 Ratings |  |